TOKYO: The Japanese government additionally put the central prefecture of Aichi and the southwestern prefecture of Fukuoka under its third state of emergency over the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.

The emergency, which already covers Tokyo, and Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in western Japan, will be effective until May 31. The state of emergency took effect on April 25 for the Japanese capital and the three western prefectures and was initially slated to end on Tuesday. The government decided the 20-day extension last week.

At a time when many new infection cases continue to be confirmed due to the spread of variant strains, the government is poised to boost efforts to bring the virus under control in cooperation with local authorities of the six prefectures subject to the emergency.

The central government has also decided to extend its coronavirus pre-emergency stage, covering eight prefectures, also until May 31. The eight are Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, all of which border Tokyo, Ehime in western Japan, Okinawa, southernmost Japan, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, and Gifu and Mie in central Japan. Hokkaido, Gifu and Mie were added to the pre-emergency list on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the government let the pre-emergency designation for Miyagi Prefecture expire on Tuesday, following an improvement in the infection situation in the northeastern prefecture.

At a liaison meeting between the government and the ruling coalition Tuesday, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that “we aim to contain the virus by thoroughly taking highly effective countermeasures” in the prefectures under the state of emergency.

In the areas subject to the emergency, eating and drinking establishments offering alcoholic beverages and karaoke services are asked to close temporarily.

Suga also said that intensive measures to reduce infections will be implemented in the areas with the pre-emergency status through close cooperation between the state and local governments concerned.

At a videoconference Monday, the National Governors’ Association called on the central government to strengthen measures against the virus with in mind the possibility of expanding the state of emergency to all of the remaining 41 prefectures of the country as well.

In response, economic revitalization minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a press conference Tuesday: “If the emergency is applied across the country, prefectures where infection cases aren’t spreading will also be covered by the measure. Careful consideration is needed as the state of emergency involves restricting private rights under law.”

Nishimura, who leads the state’s fight against the coronavirus, also said that the government has received requests from the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima and the southwestern prefectures of Nagasaki and Kumamoto for adding them to the pre-emergency list.

“The government will respond flexibly depending on needs,” he said.

JIJI Press